Abstract
Keywords - active safety, driver drowsiness, assistance systems, driving simulator, real world tests
Various scientific studies estimate that between 10 and 25 per cent of severe traffic accidents can be attributed to drowsiness. The development of a new approach to detect driver drowsiness started several years ago with a series of tests in the Daimler driving simulator in Berlin and on public roads. A variety of methods for detecting driver fatigue was evaluated, including several camera based methods and the analysis of dynamic driving data. The Mercedes-Benz system will make use of several factors, including relevant parameters like individual driving style, time on task, time of day and driving conditions. After generating an individual driver profile, those deviations from this baseline caused by increasing drowsiness are used. Once a clear degradation of driving performance is detected, an acoustic and visual warning is given to the driver generally before he or she becomes over-fatigued. This system was optimized and verified in a comprehensive program of real road tests in different countries and is expected to make a vital contribution to improving safety on our roads.